Academic Motivation in Relation to Burnout Among Russian and Azerbaijani Higher Education Students

Abstract

ps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5421-028X, e-mail: ahauser@mail.ru Student burnout is a risk factor for personal well-being and can lead to a decrease in motivation and other crucial components of learning. We present the results of a study of the relationship between academic motivation and burnout in the Russian (N=203) and Azerbaijani (N=170) samples. Motivation profiles were compared to profiles of burnout and study-related experiences. Students from two profiles with the highest level of intrinsic motivation, but different levels of motivation of self-esteem (high — 32% of the total sample, or low — 20%) experienced either no burnout, or high exhaustion along with high meaningfulness of learning in both cases. Students with predominance of external motivation (20%) or amotivation (9%) turned out to be more prone to burnout, showing a high level of emotional exhaustion along with an average or complete loss of the meaning of their own educational activities. Among students with an average profile (18%), the main symptom was a decrease in the meaningfulness of study that was in some cases linked to other symptoms of burnout. The results were similar in both samples, with the profiles with high levels of self-esteem being more typical of female students. The limitations of the obtained results are discussed, as well as the relevance of burnout prevention in universities.